Subsurface

A Mines alumnus, Enders joined the Mines faculty in 2009 and has nearly 45 years of experience in mining and mineral exploration.

“Artificial intelligence is certainly on the rise and has been for several years,” said Tracy Camp, department head and professor of computer science at Mines. “There’s just so much in our world today where we can use machine learning or AI to improve on our society or lives.”

“The mining industry is extremely concerned about the management of tailings, especially as companies increasingly rely on large-scale extraction of ever-lower grade ore deposits, a process that yields large volumes of waste materials,” said Priscilla Nelson, professor of mining engineering.

The new programs draw from the core areas of expertise Mines is known for — from civil and environmental engineering to extraction to materials science — to create an interdisciplinary field of study that prepares students for the next step in their careers.

The Make Masks for Mines effort is seeking volunteers with the skill, will and sewing machines to make masks as soon as possible. Local volunteers can also schedule a time to pick up Mines-furnished fabric for the project.

In Antarctica, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, Geophysics Assistant Professor Matt Siegfried studies how glaciers and ice sheets move and evolve.

A Colorado School of Mines glaciologist was part of a team of scientists that used the most advanced Earth-observing laser instrument NASA has ever flown in space to make precise, detailed measurements of how the elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have changed over 16 years.

The Center for Underground at Colorado School of Mines recently was awarded a major contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design and demonstrate rapid tunneling

The 3D scans are obtained by a technique called seismic tomography – like medical CAT scans but using the seismic waves generated by earthquakes.

“Long hours of training both on campus and in the Edgar Experimental Mine paid off for our Mines team," mechanical engineering freshman CJ Kaufman said.